


Alexithymia

by Kaini



Series: Feral Nines [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Feral!Nines, Gavin Reed is Bad at Feelings, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Sequel, Working out feelings, date, just really soft guys, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:42:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22964095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaini/pseuds/Kaini
Summary: Sequel to Dismantle, Repair. Second in a series of three.Gavin decides it's time to take Nines out on a real date. Like, an actual date, where they're not also worrying about being stalked by a serial killer.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: Feral Nines [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1613608
Comments: 22
Kudos: 366





	Alexithymia

_Damn, I could get used to this_. 

That was Gavin's first thought, every morning as he woke up for the past few weeks. _I could get used to this; I don't want to lose this._ It still caused a little flutter of anxiety in his chest, up until Nines roused a little and eased it away with the softest brush of his lips against the back of Gavin's neck. 

Nines was really clingy. He liked to be the bigger spoon; Gavin woke up every morning nestled in the android's strong arms, almost protectively until he shifted a little and Nines' posture loosened. 

Then it was really, really fucking hard to get out of bed because Nines would spoil him with soft kisses and gentle touches until he finally, absolutely had to pull away to get ready for work. 

It was so unfair, how thoroughly the android could just… ruin him with those little things; quiet words and gentle touches.

It was also starting to worry him, how it hadn't all blown up in his face yet. Nines was just… perfect, so good to him and… still around, still sticking around. 

Nothing had happened yet to make Gavin think he _wouldn't_ stick around, but _still_. He just… wasn't used to it. 

“Morning.” Gavin murmured, finally finding the motivation to move a little, actually shift a bit more firmly into the warmth of Nines behind him. It was his day off; he could afford to laze around for a while.

Nines made a soft, pleased sound against Gavin’s shoulder, apparently content with that. 

He still wasn’t super big on words. Gavin had learned he _could_ talk, like physically, but there was some mental hangup there that he still had trouble getting past. 

Gavin didn’t push it. Nines remained nonverbal in any kind of public setting, just reserved some rare, soft spoken words for him when they were alone. Which made him feel. Something. Like he was special, maybe. 

He still had no idea how or why Nines had picked him of all people to completely wrap his world around, but he’d take it. 

Nines hummed softly right by his ear, and Gavin smiled. He would have been so content to stay like that, close the blinds and ignore the sun and just let Nines cling to him, if it weren’t for his stupid cat. 

She leaped up onto the bed as if on cue, walking over the pillows to scream at the two of them. Food time, can-openers. 

Nines was so easy for her, too. He just smiled, kissed the back of Gavin’s neck like it was the most casual thing, not the sweetest fucking thing anybody had ever done for him, and pulled away to get up and follow the cat to the kitchen. 

Gavin watched him go for a moment, maybe admiring the android’s ass before he pried himself up as well. 

By the time he'd showered and made himself decent, Nines had fed the cat and was leaning against the kitchen counter holding a hot mug of coffee for Gavin. 

He passed it over wordlessly as Gavin approached, just leaned in to steal a kiss as their hands brushed. 

And God, what had he ever done to deserve all that? It almost felt _too_ good, like life was just gearing up to kick him in the balls at some point. 

“Thanks.” Gavin murmured, sipping from the mug to test the temperature. But of course it was perfect; Nines could like, measure it probably. 

His phone vibrated from the other room. 

“Urgent?” Gavin asked, glancing up at Nines from his coffee. Nines shook his head, so he finished drinking his coffee before setting the mug down and going to retrieve his phone from the nightstand. 

N: Don’t forget, you need to go to the store today. 

Oh, fuck. Yea, he’d totally forgotten. 

“Right, yeah -” He almost laughed when he re-entered the kitchen and found Nines kneeling to let the cat play-attack him. She’d already inhaled her food, presumably. “Don’t wanna come with me, do you?”

Nines looked up, allowing Sasha to get in a good swipe at his arm, and shook his head.

Gavin hadn’t expected anything different. Nines didn’t go with him unless it was like… to the park by themselves. He didn’t like crowds. 

“‘Kay. Well, text me if you need anything, alright?”

The android flashed him one of those little smiles that made Gavin’s knees weak then turned his attention back to the cat. God, that was so cute - Nines was seriously gonna spoil the shit out of his little bastard of a cat, but Gavin didn’t have the heart to tell him to stop. And Nines adored her, so. 

By the time he’d stopped getting distracted and finally headed out, he’d totally forgotten what he needed to be getting at the fucking store, but luckily Nines was like, way smarter than him - he texted Gavin a list, as a ‘reminder’. Like he didn’t know Gavin was actually a complete disaster and 100% needed it. 

The list also included cute shit like ‘A new cat toy’ and ‘decaf’. He definitely still got his usual coffee, but the thought was endearing. 

He grabbed something for Nines at the checkout, too; he’d figured out Nines absolutely _loved_ any kind of fidget toy. Puzzles, those little cubes with buttons on them, squishy key chains. Nines just really needed something to do with his hands; he was built to be a detective, always thinking. His computer brain ran really fast and it seemed like he just… needed the simplicity of something physical, sometimes. 

It also kept him from worrying his fingers. He tended to accidentally damage himself, if he did it hard enough. 

So Gavin was pretty pleased with the little squishy rubber key chain he’d grabbed. Silly, little thing, but Nines’ face lit up when Gavin got home and gave it to him, like Gavin had just given him the moon. He played with it all night, as they settled on the couch and Nines watched him play old video games. Nines was still in a stage of being utterly fascinated by anything new, and that was his latest thing. 

Some part of Gavin feared that's all their… relationship? was. Just the latest thing Nines was fascinated by and he'd get over as he learned more about the world. 

But whatever. Gavin was gonna enjoy it while he could. 

He _definitely_ enjoyed it when Nines went with him to bed; waited patiently for him to slip under the covers before following, curling around him. 

It wasn’t something they’d ever really talked about, the whole… ‘sleeping together’ thing. Nines didn’t actually need to sleep, and Gavin was pretty sure he’d never seen him do the rest mode thing androids did sometimes. But Gavin felt bad continually leaving him on the couch all night, and there was one night Gavin had a nightmare and Nines just… 

Nines knew, _somehow_ , could read his erratic heartbeat from a room away. Gavin had never actually asked him how he did that, he could hear it maybe? But Nines had noticed him freaking out, went into Gavin’s room to check on him… 

Gavin had been in no condition to fumble for his phone, so they couldn’t really communicate, and Nines just… decided the best way to calm Gavin’s racing heart was to hold him. So he did. Like all night. And then that had just become a thing. 

Nines had some lingering anxiety about being left alone at night, too, probably from Cyberlife when they’d leave him partially assembled, so… it worked out for both of them. 

Like, really worked out. Gavin had never slept better, honestly. 

_I could get used to this; I don't want to lose this._

It went through his mind every time Nines pressed close, kissed the back of his neck to say goodnight, wrapped those strong arms protectively around him. And every morning when he woke up like that, too. 

When he got up and Nines had already made coffee for him. While Nines fed the cat and played with her and told him to have a good day at work over text. 

He liked to re-read Nines' texts throughout the day, and that's what he was doing when Tina settled at the break room table across from him. 

He never did get why they didn't have chairs in the goddamn break room, but Fowler liked to say they already lazed at their desks enough.

"What are you smiling about?" Tina teased him from behind her cup of coffee. She'd gone out and grabbed some real coffee, lucky bastard. 

On impulse he closed Nines' texts on his phone. 'Cuz he hadn't realized he'd been grinning like an idiot. 

"Ooh, texts from your man?" Tina needled him, and Gavin scowled. 

She just laughed. "Take it easy Gav, I'm happy for you. Really." 

"Uh… Thanks." Gavin mumbled, glancing down at his phone. Honestly, bless Tina. 

"So what's he doing these days, did he find a job he likes?" She said conversationally. She did that a lot, tried to get him to like, actually be social like a normal human being. 

Gavin shook his head. "Nah, he's - he's not great at being around people. Just yet." 

"Oh. Is he still staying with you…?"

"... Yeah." Gavin admitted begrudgingly. Anyone but Tina and he wouldn't be telling them anything, but Tina just… she cared, that was all. 

"What's he do while you're working?"

That made Gavin frown at his phone. He'd hadn't really thought about it, actually? Probably just play with Sasha and watch movies. "I dunno? Just hangs out I guess…"

Tina was giving him a curious look, like… the not quite judging look but the Gavin-you're-kind-of-an-idiot look. 

"I try to take him out, you know when I'm off, but he never wants to." Gavin added, maybe a little defensively. 

"He's gotta get out sometime, Gav." Tina said gently. "I know he's had a rough time, but… he'll get better." 

Gavin stared down at the table. Fuck. She was so right, and he… he hadn't even thought about it. Nines cooped up in his house all day. "Fuck, yeah - yeah. Maybe I'll… talk to Jericho or something." He muttered, and Tina gave him a casual shrug. 

“Can’t hurt. Hey, did you hear the news though? They tracked down Walker in China.” 

Now _that_ shit got his attention. He’d come to find out just recently that Walker had skipped the country after that whole shitshow with Nines. Run off to China apparently, and they hadn’t been able to track him down. 

“Serious? We got him?” 

“Yep. He’s getting flown back, God knows when with all the red tape, but.”

Fucking, finally. That asshole deserved the death penalty as far as Gavin was concerned. Too bad they couldn’t do that. “Thank fuck.” 

“They’ll probably want you to testify.” Tina said gently.

“Yeah, I know.” Probably Nines too, but he definitely did not wanna put Nines through that. 

He and Tina shot the shit for a little while longer before she had to go off her break, and Gavin went back to his desk to pretend to be productive. 

He couldn't stop thinking about what Tina had said, though. It wasn't something Gavin had stopped to think about, but he totally should have. Nines didn't really have a life outside of Gavin, so what happened if it didn't work out, or they got into a fight or it all just… ended? Nines at least had Connor, they were apparently cool now, and maybe some friends at New Jericho? 

It was like he _had_ been making friends before he started staying with Gavin, and now he wasn't, which honestly made it worse. Was Gavin holding him back? 

The thought wouldn’t leave him for the rest of the day, kinda distracted him from getting any actual work done. By the time he was headed home, he’d hatched a plan; it was time to take Nines out on like… a real date. They’d never actually done that, unless he included that one time Nines had invited him to an abandoned park. 

Gavin didn’t get a chance to do any planning that night - Nines wanted him to continue the game they’d - well, he’d been playing, ‘cuz Nines wanted to see how it came out. So he did that while Nines watched, and then they crawled into bed together. 

But the next day at the station, Gavin finally got a chance to buy some tickets to the Detroit Aquarium. That seemed like a good date idea; Nines would be fascinated by the fish and the giant greenhouse/garden, Gavin was sure. And it was cute, you know, aquarium date. 

He booked their little day trip for that Saturday, his next day off. They could go later in the day, after they had a chance to laze around a little, get ready, and then Gavin could surprise him. 

Yeah. It was gonna be great, and it’d get Nines out of the house, even if it… was still about _them_. 

Gavin was kinda giddy about it by the time he went home, and it was hard to keep that from Nines. Fucking, investigator model - he was perceptive, and he knew something was up, but like the utter blessing he was he didn't press Gavin about it. 

  
  


Still, by the time Saturday came around Gavin was absolutely brimming with anticipation. He hadn't been that nervous about a date since like… he didn't even fucking know, high school? The one time he tried to go to a dance and got stood up 'cuz he was the weird foster kid? Anyway. 

They'd gotten up at the usual time and hung around for a bit and it was finally time to drop the surprise. 

Gavin plucked Nines' favorite white coat off the hanger in the closet and brought it to him on the couch, gently laying it in his lap. 

As predicted Nines glanced up at him with the cutest little questioning look, his LED spinning yellow. He was blue most of the time at home, now, and it was really… something. 

"Wanna go out on a date?" Gavin had no idea how to be subtle, anyway. "I may have uh, planned something. Special." 

Some small part of him had been worried Nines would refuse, but the android's face lit up like a kid on Christmas. Fucking, tooth-achingly sweet. Goddammit. 

Nines nodded, getting up to shrug his coat on over the black longsleeve he'd already been wearing. Gavin had to chuckle when he then retreated to the bedroom to find some decent pants that weren't Gavin's old sweats (that didn't fit him) - kinda doing that backwards. 

When Nines re-appeared he was ready to go, dressed sinfully in a pair of skinny jeans Gavin had maybe a little self-servingly gotten him. 

N: Where are we going?

Nines asked him over text, and Gavin just grinned. “It’s a surprise. You’ll love it, trust me.”

Nines just flashed him a smile that told Gavin he _did_ trust him, like so much, and it made Gavin’s stomach flip. 

“Behave while we’re gone.” Gavin warned the cat before they headed out, and Nines promptly ruined it by giving her an encouraging little pet before he closed the door. 

Nines had come so goddamn far. Gavin thought about it as they drove, Nines watching the city pass by out the car's window, his LED a placid blue. There was a time Gavin was convinced he'd never be that calm.

The aquarium wasn't far, and thankfully it wasn't located where it had been, twenty or so years ago. It had once been on Belle Isle, before Cyberlife took it over, in some… historic building. Gavin recalled there'd been some sort of scuttlebutt over Cyberlife demolishing that building where the aquarium was housed to build their tower, because it had history. There'd been protests or some shit, but of course it had all gone ahead anyway, because it was Cyberlife. And the aquarium had relocated. 

Relocated to one of the brand new parts of town, an area part of the recent restoration projects. Very tourist-y. 

The parking lot was fairly packed, but Gavin parked way out anyway just to give them some breathing room. 

Nines definitely seemed to eye the steady stream of people leaving the venue warily as he got out of the car, but he reached over to take Gavin's hand with a little smile nonetheless. 

N: You planned this?

Nines texted him as they walked, and Gavin fished his phone out with one hand. 

"Yeah, I thought - you know, we've never actually been on like. A real date." Gavin shrugged, glancing at his face. Nines' smile just widened, amusement in those bright eyes.

Gavin tried not to have his phone out too much - he ended up looking more at the screen than at Nines, and they'd gotten to the point where he pretty much knew what Nines needed without having to say it. So he used his phone to present their tickets and then put it back in his pocket, still leading Nines by the hand. 

Nines was distracted anyway - as soon as they entered the building and walked under the huge aquarium tunnel, he was _rapt_. The awe on his face was just so … earnest and innocent, endearing as all hell. He'd truly never seen anything like the giant Gar swimming above their heads, and that sheer wonder was just. Infectious. Gavin would have said they were just fish, not that long ago. Bo-ring. 

Nines didn't even seem to mind the crowd. There were a fair number of people packed into the aquarium; it was a Saturday, but the android's attention was fully on the exhibits. He pressed himself to the glass like a little kid, texted Gavin facts about the fish they were looking at that he no doubt insta-googled in his brain and just had to share.

The one time he seemed nervous was when they got to the indoor garden area; Nines paused at the threshold to the greenhouse, and Gavin had to give his hand a little squeeze to urge him on. Something about the place unnerved him a little, though there were fewer people.

He got over it quickly anyway, and before long he was leaning over ropes to get closer looks at flowers he'd never seen before, touching big wide leaves that extended into the walkway. 

He seemed to be having a good time. Gavin mostly trailed along behind him, though sometimes Nines would reach back for his hand and they'd walk shoulder to shoulder for a bit. Gavin couldn't remember the last time he'd just. Been this content to just… hang out with somebody. It still sort of scared him - wasn't this supposed to be like? Hard? In some way? 

The path through the greenhouse led to the last leg of the aquarium, some smaller saltwater displays and then a giant tube-tank full of jellyfish. Nines fucking loved those, spent forever circling the tank to get a better look. Guess jellyfish were pretty fucking wild if you'd never seen a jellyfish before. 

Beyond that was the gift shop, because of course there was a gift shop, but it gave Gavin an idea.

He reached out to give Nines' arm a little squeeze, pulling his attention away from the jellies for a moment. "Hey - I'm gonna go find the restroom real quick, I'll be right back." 

Nines nodded, and Gavin peeled away to sneak into the gift shop. 

They had all kinds of crap, little snow-globes and plushies and shit. Nines liked stuff to fidget with, so Gavin was drawn to the little plastic key chains depicting different animals. There was a little realistic-looking jellyfish one, even. Perfect. 

Gavin had to wait in line to pay, so it was a good couple minutes before he made his way back toward the jelly exhibit, the key chain in a little bag. And he might have grabbed a stuffed jellyfish, too. If anything Sasha would love playing with it. 

When he turned the corner to the exhibit area, though, the sound of a low electronic growl made his heart leap into his throat. That was Nines, and he was _pissed_. 

There was a _crowd_ gathering around the jellyfish tank, and Gavin had to push past people as he rushed to grab Nines before he did anything stupid. There was somebody yelling, Nines was growling, backed into a corner and trembling behind the rounded tank with a posture that just screamed fight-or-flight. Gavin immediately threw himself in front of the android, grabbing his arm to keep him in place, ground him. 

"Hey, HEY!" Some guy had backed Nines into that corner, furious and ranting. Gavin was not about to stand for that shit. "What's your fucking problem, man?" 

"That thing hit my kid!"

Oh, Jesus. 

"Excuse me?" 

"It shoved my kid, she was just trying to see!" 

Okay, hit and shoved were two very different things. Gavin was getting the vague idea that his snot nosed kid had probably startled Nines or touched him or - shit. And this jackass just had to escalate it and start yelling. 

"Look man, he didn't mean anything - "

"Nobody puts their hands on my kid, especially not some android!" 

Oh, the bigotry was cute. Nines snarled in his ear.

They had quite the crowd by then, and some of the aquarium staff were there looking concerned. How to get thrown out of the Detroit Aquarium 101. 

Gavin normally wouldn’t have cared, would have put the chucklefuck in his place, but he didn't actually know what happened and he didn't want to escalate it further with Nines tensely clinging to him, clearly on the edge of a full-blown panic. 

"Whatever, we're leaving-"

"You'll wait here while I call the cops! My daughter-"

Gavin rolled his eyes and flashed his badge. Not normally a card he played, but whatever. "You rang? Cool. We're going, C'mon Nines."

He didn't wait for the guy's response, just took Nines' hand and tugged him gently toward the exit. For a tense moment Nines was rooted to the spot, his lip pulled into a sneer as he stared the guy down, but then he moved with Gavin. 

Gavin got behind him, gently urged him on with a hand at the small of his back. He was so fucking tense, and Gavin just wanted to get him back to their car. 

They'd just stepped outside when Gavin became conscious of the fact someone was behind them. He whipped around expecting the asshole again, but instead got the timid face of a female-presenting android. She actually flinched a little. 

"Hey, sorry, I just - I wanted you to know I saw what happened, he didn't do anything wrong." She said quickly, gesturing at Nines. 

Oh.

"So um, you know, if that guy calls the police I can say that. He didn't hit anybody, for sure. The little girl just… she grabbed him, I would have been kinda surprised too." The android shrugged. 

Faith in humanity somewhat restored. Or actually, android-kind, but.

"Er, thanks. Lemme get your phone number-" cuz the guy might actually call it in and it was probably good to have their asses covered. Jackass.

Gavin took her info and thanked her again, and then they headed for the car. Nines' shoulders were hunched, his hand gripping Gavin's tightly. Not really how he'd wanted this day to end, but he didn't want Nines feeling like it was his fault, either. If anything it was Gavin's - he shouldn't have left him alone, or they should have gone someplace less crowded… dammit. 

"You okay…?" Gavin asked softly as he got Nines into the car. He looked so defeated, his head down even as he nodded. 

Gavin gave his shoulder a little squeeze. "We'll get home." 

Nines just glanced out the window, his LED yellow with the occasional flicker of red. 

Fuck. Of course _something_ about Gavin’s bright idea had to go wrong. 

The drive home was quiet, not that Nines was ever super talkative, but it wasn't as… comfortable. 

Sasha was happy to see them when they got back anyway, despite the fact they'd only been gone for a couple of hours. Stupid cat. Her attacking Nines' legs got a little smile out of the android, though, which kinda made up for the fact she was intent on shredding his jeans. Nines knelt down to pick her up, risking a face-shredding to hold her against his chest. 

She just purred, and Gavin had never been more grateful the stupid cat had a new favorite. Even if he was a little jealous. 

Nines crossed to the couch with the cat in his arms, sitting down to pet her slowly. He leaned his head on Gavin's shoulder when Gavin joined him, his phone in his hand. In case Nines wanted to talk.

N: I'm sorry. 

The text came through after a few minutes, and Gavin frowned. "Hey, you've got nothing to be sorry about."

N: I embarrassed you. 

Gavin sat up, and Nines lifted his head. "No - I'm not - you didn't embarrass me, okay? That guy was way out of line and I wouldn't have been sorry to hand him his ass." 

N: I shouldn't have reacted.

"What happened? If you wanna tell me-" 

N: She wanted to get close to the tank, too. She grabbed my coat to push me aside. 

N: I didn't know who was touching me.

N: It. Scared me. And you weren't there. 

Gavin felt his mouth go dry. God dammit. Nines' face scrunched up a little, like he had to fight back tears, and Gavin reached over to gently take his face, stroke a thumb across his cheek. 

"Hey, I'm sorry - I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have left." Gavin whispered. Nines was avoiding his eyes. 

N: It was just a child.

N: She wasn't going to hurt me.

"So? It's not your fault okay. Look -" Nines' eyes lifted to his. "You don't have to be sorry for… feeling stuff. Understand?" 

Nines nodded in his hands, slowly, after the longest pause. 

"Good." Gavin said, letting his hands fall. " _I'm_ sorry, if anything, I really shouldn't have left or we coulda gone on a quieter day - I'm sorry I got you into that, it was a dumb idea." 

He looked down at his phone. 

N: I enjoyed it, before what happened. 

N: I had. Fun. 

N: When you were gone, there were just so many people.

"I know, I shoulda - fuck. Sorry." 

Nines cocked his head, trying to meet Gavin's eyes while his attention was down at his phone. 

"I just, you're always with me, and that's great but like…" Oh he really shouldn't be bringing this up now, but he'd already said it and Nines was looking at him with this curious, baffled look, his LED spinning slowly yellow. 

"But like what if something happens, you know? Not that I think it will, I just… I want you to be. You know. Happy, okay, if I'm not there." 

"And I'm always working…" Gavin continued when Nines' brow scrunched. "I feel bad, you know, 'cuz we don't get out a lot, and you just…"

He gestured vaguely around the house, and for a moment Nines just looked genuinely confused, his brow furrowed and his LED spinning. 

Then he _smiled_ , a little huff of a laugh leaving him, which completely threw Gavin off. 

N: You think I don't get out of the house while you're not here? 

He frowned at his phone. "... Yes?" 

Another little laugh, and Nines guided his chin up so he'd look up from the phone.

"Gavin." Nines said softly, amusement glittering in those steely eyes. "I do things. I walk Sumo for Connor." 

"... You do?"

N: Almost every day.

He switched back to text, he seemed to have an upper limit on getting sentences out, but it made Gavin's heart flip every time, every gentle whisper hard-earned just for him. 

N: Hank was worried he wasn't getting enough attention with him and Connor both working. So I feed him and walk him. Hank pays me. 

N: I visit New Jericho, too. They're not bad, it's just too busy a place for me to stay. 

“I… oh.” Oh. Well, now he just felt like a total fucking idiot, assuming Nines didn’t have a life. He totally did, he had Connor and some friends, just because Gavin didn’t see it - 

“Sweet of you to worry.” Nines whispered, an honest-to-god _cheeky_ smile on his face. 

“Oh, hey, I wouldn’t go _that_ far-” Gavin said, with an exaggerated eye roll, which just made Nines laugh. 

And that, right there, was just so perfect - Nines’ soft little laugh, the way his face lit up with amusement when Gavin grabbed the nearest pillow and gently whacked him with it to get him to stop, ruffled up his perfect hair. 

A second later they descended into a real ass pillow fight, scaring the shit out of Sasha in the process, but that shit at the aquarium? Totally forgotten. 

And like, more of that, more of that forever and ever. 

_I could get used to this; I don't want to lose this._

-

N: Will you talk to me? If you worry like that again?

Nines asked him later that night, as Gavin lounged with his tablet on the android’s shoulder. Gavin had already given him the little key chain and the plushie, and of course he’d loved it - the stuffed jellyfish was currently under Nines’ other arm to keep it away from Sasha. Nines had insisted she not be allowed to claw it to bits. 

“Yeah. Yeah, totally. I guess I’m just not used to… I dunno. Being a functional human being.” Talking about his feelings. He’d never really needed to do that. Like, at all. Even in other relationships, which… okay, might have been the problem, in retrospect. 

Nines just nuzzled into his hair with a contented little sound, and Gavin felt something catch in his throat. How’d he end up deserving this?

“Actually, I… I was thinking…” 

A curious sound, though Nines didn’t move from his comfortable position. 

“What would you think of becoming a… consultant? To the DPD?” It had only just occurred to Gavin in the last couple hours, but… it might be a good idea. Give Nines a job. Something to actually do and apply himself toward besides walking Anderson’s big dumb dog. 

N: Consultant? 

“Yeah, like… help me with cases. Provide technical support. So you don’t have to worry about like, actually trying to be a detective at first, won’t have to get very hands-on but… you’re good at that stuff right? Like when you helped me figure out Walker?”

Nines nodded slowly. 

“It’d keep you a little busier, but I know you need something to do with that big brain of yours, yeah?”

A little laugh. 

N: Yes. I’d like to help you, I think.

“Cool. I’ll suggest it to Fowler.” Gavin said. He was actually kind of excited - they’d made a good team, on the Walker case, before it went to shit. 

“Thank you, Gavin.” Nines said, aloud, moving to lift Gavin’s chin with his finger and steal a timid little kiss. 

More of that, too. 

Gavin smiled into it, when he did get to be such a sap? and slid a hand down to the android’s waist. Nines was touching him with his bare fingers, the skin pulled away to reveal pockmarked white, the feeling familiar against Gavin’s cheek. 

Maybe, just maybe he could keep this. If he worked at it and was honest and didn’t let his issues get the better of him and just let Nines know how much he _absolutely_ and _utterly_ adored him. 

His brain still rebelled against thinking the actual word for that, but it was there and he’d… eventually. Maybe not now but, eventually.

**Author's Note:**

> Just real sof boi hours... 
> 
> Sequel to Dismantle, Repair! Actually, this will be a series of three - there's one more multi-chapter work in the series, with a longer plot and a darker subject matter. So this one deserved to be soft. And focused on Gavin and his insecurities and his inability to voice his feels, but he's working on it. The next one will focus on Nines :D
> 
> So stay tuned!


End file.
